THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Today I want to talk to you
about how we can demand responsibility from all our young people by
taking firm steps to stop teens from driving under the influence of
alcohol and drugs.

My vision is of an America where we offer opportunity to
all, demand responsibility from all, and build a stronger community
where everyone has a place. That's America's basic bargain. That's how
we will keep our young people safe and give them the futures they
deserve.

We've done a lot to expand opportunity for our young people
-- reducing the cost of college loans and improving the terms for
repayment, expanding scholarships to college, creating millions of new
jobs. We've preserved the summer jobs program and created AmeriCorps,
which gives young people the opportunity to serve in their communities
and earn money for college. I want to do more.

Our balanced budget plan can make two years of college
after high school as universal as a high school diploma is today by
giving people a deduction on their taxes, dollar for dollar, for the
cost of the typical community college tuition. We offer a deduction of
up to $10,000 a year for any college tuition and permit families to save
in an IRA and then withdraw from it, tax-free, to pay for education for
their children.

But we must demand the responsibility of our young people
as well. Our responsibility is to teach them right from wrong and then
to expect them to act accordingly. So, in our welfare reform efforts,
we've required teen mothers to live at home and stay in school or lose
their welfare benefits. We went to court to support those communities
that have decided to require drug testing for high school athletes.
We've imposed a zero tolerance policy for guns in schools. We're taking
on teen smoking and trying to stop tobacco companies from advertising
and marketing cigarettes to our young people.

We've encouraged communities to enforce their truancy laws
and to adopt new programs like school uniform policies and to impose
community curfews. We supported character education programs and
drug-free school programs for children in our schools all across
America.

These are all ways for parents and teachers and law
enforcement people to set rules, maintain order and discipline and make
schools places of learning, not violence and destruction.

Today, we're taking another step. Too many teens pose a
threat to themselves and others by drinking and driving. Just last
year, 2,200 young people between the ages of 15 and 20 died in
alcohol-related car crashes. Thanks especially to the leadership of
groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Students Against Drunk
Driving, America has made real progress in reducing teen drunk driving
over the last decade.

But there's more to do. We have pushed for a policy of
zero tolerance for teen drinking and driving. If you're under 21 and
you drink, you can't drive, period. Last year, when fewer than half the
states had zero tolerance laws, I called on Congress to enact
legislation making it the law of the land. Congress acted.

Since then, 13 more states have adopted these strict rules.
Now we're taking final action to demand responsibility from teens in all
50 states. Today, I am pleased to announce that we're issuing a new
rule. Every state must pass a law making it illegal for anyone under 21
to drive with alcohol in their blood. If they're caught, their driver's
licenses must be suspended.

Under the new law passed by Congress, states that do not
put this into effect will lose some of their federal highway funds. Now
we should take the next step to increase responsibility among teenagers.
Drug use is down all across America. But unfortunately, it is still
rising among young people. That's why I have fought to expand the Safe
and Drug-Free Schools program -- to get more people out there, like DARE
officers, telling our children that drugs are wrong and drugs can kill
you. That's why we're requiring parolees to pass a drug test or go back
to jail. If they want to stay out of jail, they must stay off drugs.

I believe we should use the privilege of a driver's license
to demand responsible behavior by young people when it comes to drugs,
too. We're already saying to teens, if you drink you aren't allowed to
drive. Now we should say that teens should pass a drug test as a
condition of getting a driver's license. Our message should be simple:
No drugs or no driver's license.

Today I am directing General Barry McCaffrey, the director
of our drug office, and Secretary Frederico Pena, the Secretary of
Transportation, to report back to me within 90 days with a plan for how
to do this, including legislation if appropriate, and other ways to
fight the problem of teen drug use and driving.

Let me make one thing clear: Even though teen drug use is
up, all the evidence is that 90 percent of our children our drug free.
They are doing the right thing. They are not experimenting. So we're
asking them, the 90 percent who are drug free, to be responsible enough
to participate in this drug-testing program to help us identify the 10
percent who are on the brink of getting in trouble, and get them away
from drugs before it's too late.

Our goal must be to parents pass on their values to their
children, to help their children to act responsibly, to take charge of
their lives and their futures. If we offer our children more
opportunity and demand of them more responsibility, America's best days
are ahead.